


Rotation

by dantylions



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: First Love, Graduation, Hurt, M/M, One Shot, Parting Ways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dantylions/pseuds/dantylions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yukio still cannot help the feelings of bitterness welling up inside him when fate was cruel enough to give him Kise Ryouta in his final year of high school. One year was not enough to fill his heart with Kise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rotation

Yukio believes that change is inevitable. It's choices that twist and shape the world, rotating it into a complex infrastructure of life. So when people say they believe in something as whimsical as fate, Yukio can't help but grind his teeth. Fate is for those who do not understand guts and determination and _fear_  change. Even though he says all these things, believes in all of these things whole heartedly, Yukio still cannot help the feelings of bitterness welling up inside him when fate was cruel enough to give him Kise Ryouta in his final year of high school. One year was not enough to fill his heart with Kise.

* * *

Winter is brutally cold Yukio realises as he stumbles his way out of cram school, acknowledging the sharp wind that blows through his coat as if it were a paper bag. He attends cram school three times a week, but not because he's an idiot. In fact, he places in the top 10 of his grade and owns the seat of the basketball captaincy. As they say, idiots don't win so Yukio makes sure to keep up with his studies just as much as basketball...well almost. He goes to cram school in preparation for entrance exams as in the spring, he will graduate from high school and enter the working world. The thought frightens him but for different reasons. Yukio is not ready to part with his basketball shoes, the sport magazines and his basketball which has been worn down until the surface is smooth with use and can no longer grip the court. He is not ready to part with after school club practice and teammates who have shared the exhilaration of victory and the bitter taste of defeat. Despite saying all of this, he handed over his captaincy to the basketball club four weeks ago, thus resigning and removing basketball from his life. It's not like he doesn't want to continue. But high school level and university level, the gap is too wide, unreachable. He isn't incapable of basketball, in fact he's very brilliant at it. Kaijo was a team he lead to victory many times, becoming one of the top schools in Japan. He, himself was considered as a nationally famous point guard who starred in many basketball magazines. But only a few select universities in Japan have basketball programs, serious and ridiculously difficult programs and Yukio could get a scholarship if he wanted but what would that achieve? In high school they call him talented but once he leaves, he will become average and no amount of hard work could ever raise him to the pedestal the Generation of Miracles stand on. Not to mention that basketball in Japan isn't even actively competitive as foreign countries. Japanese people are unfortunately too short to compete with the builds of countries like America. No one would pay for players who cannot win. This was the cruel truth of reality. 

* * *

Small puffs of misty breath rise into the air, fading out as the black haired teen makes his way home, feet shuffling on the icy path. He's thinking of the homework he has to complete tonight and that he can't forget to visit the basketball club tomorrow, to make sure that Kise Ryouta is handling the pressures of being captain well enough. It was an easy decision to make Kise captain. The second years were all talented but Kise was the only one who burned with passion that blazed like the sun. He had a brave heart that was not afraid to cry in loss and a heart that would put the team first, even if his legs would all but give out underneath him. Yukio knew he had made the right choice in his decision. 

Light pours onto the porch as he opens the front door, toeing off his shoes and calling out 'I'm home' before trudging up the stairs, burying his cold face into his slightly warmer hands. His mother doesn't bother him on cram school nights, knowing he prefers to be alone to study, however she always leaves a plate of snacks by his door before he comes home. One sits right in front of his door right now and Yukio smiles, thanking his mother for being a good person. Barely inside his gloomy room, his cellphone lights up, the familiar jingle alerting him that it was Kise, stupid, annoying, beautiful Kise.

**Subject: HELP (;´Д`)**

**Senpaaaiiii! COACH LOOKED SCARY. I STUFFED UP.**

Yukio sighs, knowing that the minute Kise breaks into emoji's, he's in panic mode. His fingers gloss over the digits on his phone, typing in a number as if his fingers had done it a million times. Kise picks up on the first ring, loud voice blaring through the speakers but Yukio, accustomed with the other's habits, is already holding the phone an arms length away.

"SENPAAAAIIIIIIII!"

"Can you speak normally for once seriously you'll make me deaf Kise." He growls.

"I'm sorry Senpai but, but, coach is going to remove me as captain!" Kise all but wails and Yukio has to refrain from pressing 'end call' right then. He doesn't though because he's holding onto this moment, this moment of relishing in speaking with Kise. Still, he has to stop himself from yelling at the idiot.

" _What do you mean he's demoting you?!_ " Little sobs break through the other end and he knows better than to think Kise is crying.

"I-I today in practice, I was bringing coach his coffee, like why do I bring him coffee? You never had to, that's totally unfair!" Yukio coughs pointedly, "Oh right, anyway, I tripped over my shoelaces and spilt the coffee all over coach's suit and I thought he was going to choke me but instead he just yelled at me and he's TOTALLY DEMOTING ME SENPAI!" The senpai in response stays silent for a bit, his face going from frown to a full face scowl in less than a second.

"You mean to tell me that you texted me over a  _stupid ass reason like that?_ " In truth, Yukio shouldn't even be surprised. Kise's texted him over a lot of stupid and ridiculous reasons in dealing with the basketball club. Sometimes he even comes up to the senior's 5th floor at school to interrupt him at lunch. And after school at his house. Sometimes, he even goes as far as to meet up outside of his cram school at 9:30 at night. It's always dumb things like, "Senpai, do you know where the mop and bucket is? Someone puked." or "Senpai, I can't find the folder you left me, I checked on the desk and it wasn't there-ssu!" even though Yukio has mentioned a hundred times that it's in the cabinet in the corner of the manager's room. Still, the fact the Kise still relies on him even though he isn't captain anymore, fills Yukio with a lonely feeling because soon that connection will be gone. Yukio will enter university, start working and things like keeping in touch, helping Kise with the basketball club, being with Kise will become non-existent.

"Senpai, do you want to know the real reason I texted you?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to hear your voice." The ex-captain's eyes widen, his heart picking up speed before he tells himself that this can't continue. A sigh escapes his mouth and he allows himself a wry smile.

"Very funny Kise. I have to study for cram school so I'm going to hang up. Bye."

He pretends he doesn't hear the model's wistful sigh just before the call ends. 

* * *

The next day Kise shows up at 1:10pm right on time, just like every other day. Yukio's halfway through eating a sandwich when the blond drops himself into the chair next to him, his other friends giving Yukio a funny look. "Senpaaii-"

"I'm going to stop you right there Kise."

"B-but Kasamatsu-senpai," He sighs, raising his hand in a stop motion, hoping to silence Kise's whining voice. Knowing from past experiences, Kise will take 10 minutes to tell his story, he will then complain and whine for 5 minutes and then eat his lunch at Yukio's table. The ace will the proceed to clap him on the back and leave as if nothing had happened, thus leaving Yukio with only 5 minutes to finish his lunch. This routine happens at least four times a week.

"Kise, stop coming to me with your troubles. You're the captain of the basketball club now, not me. Please stop coming to see me, it's annoying." Yukio snaps but instantly feels bad about it. He doesn't mean it to come out like that, not really. It's not even the truth, it's very far from it. Yukio, if he could, would like to see Kise every minute of every day. But he's cutting it short now, the quicker he does this, the less it will hurt when graduation comes around. It's not too late to cut the bond now...is it? Not when they've invested so much time together (but not enough time), not when they've only just started to hold hands and share secret light kisses after school.

The blond's face is filled with brief hurt, which quickly disappears as if it wasn't even there in the first place, a familiar pout taking its place. No words leave his mouth however when he gets up and leaves. He knows that Kise will listen to whatever he says and take it personally, that's just the type of person he is.

Yukio only ever sees Kise now around school and words that are too cold for the pair are all that are exchanged between them. He wishes he hadn't said anything but knows that he made the right choice. He can't have Kise.

* * *

Cherry blossoms litter the pathway as April is set into motion and graduation day is upon him. His diploma is already clutched tightly in his hands but he finds no solace in the company of friends. Yukio stands in the entrance of the gymnasium, his eyes taking in one last sight of the basketball courts before he must forget them. A blond figure is standing in the corner, a basketball in his hand and Yukio does a double take. He's not surprised though.

"I guess the only place I'd ever find you would be on a basketball court, eh Kise?"

"Of course senpai."

"I'm not your senpai anymore, you know. I've graduated."

"Yeah sorry Kasamatsu-san, old habits die hard I guess." Kise's surprisingly quiet, lacking his usual boisterous self. Footsteps echo on the floor as Yukio makes his way over, throwing his school blazer to the side and rolling up his sleeves as he makes a gesture for Kise to pass him the ball. The blond complies and the ball sails nicely into his hands before he jumps up and with a flick of his wrist, scores a beautiful three pointer. 

"Man I'm going to miss the swish of the nets as a basketball goes in."

"I'm going to miss hearing the swish of the nets as a basketball goes in with your three pointers." Yukio doesn't say anything except gathers the orange ball back into his arms and hands it to Kise, clapping him on the back. His smile is forced, Kise's, and his eyes look a little too shiny and a little to genuine to call for fake crying.

"Head up Captain. You call the shots now." Yukio tries pathetically, but he feels it too. A deep set of sadness settling into his heart at the fact that he won't get to see Kise's face every day. Things like holding hands while walking home and kissing each other goodbye at the stairs where they go in different directions. He won't hear his annoyingly loud laughs, or whines, or the small smiles he gives Yukio and not the cameras he models for. A smile saved only for him. And before he knows it, his whole world had already revolved around Kise. He was a star and Yukio was just a stray object in space that was pulled into its centre of gravity, rotating and never letting go.

Kise clumsily grabs his hand in both of his and they're warm and much larger than Yukio's. He leans forward until their breath mingles together, closing his eyes. Long blond lashes dust his cheeks with the trade mark eyeliner Kise wears thinly drawn on his upper lid. Yukio always thought that was weird. But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the very small beads of tears clinging to those lashes that made the other feel his heart swelling in size.

"Captain, I like you. I like you so much and I don't want you to leave. I don't want you to leave."

"Yeah, I know." It might not seem much but Kise knows him well enough to understand that Yukio has said everything in those words. His senpai's hand comes up to ruffle blond hair, gently knocking their foreheads together and they stay like that. They stay like that for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I don't really like this because the pacing is bad…in my opinion and well, I don't have enough writing experience/practise to even tell but it's not very good... but hey I had this idea of 'rotation' in my mind for ages now and it mainly revolved (haha see what I did there?) around Kise and Kasamatsu. I'm pretty sure I got lost with the theme halfway through, like it's pretty weak but, I give up. I've been stewing on it for too long and just needed to write. I hope, whatever this is, you like it even a little. There will be a continuation of this sometime, I don't know when and I won't keep promises. 
> 
> Um I also hope to post the next chapter of my AkaKuro but I am so slack I am so sorry omg. It will be done I promise.


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